Did I Get Too Close?
by ProfTweety
Summary: Maybe one day, it wouldn't matter anymore that she was the President. Maybe one day, they'd be able to admit aloud that what they felt for one another was more than friendship. On that day though, he made sure her understanding was clear.


**Did I Get Too Close?**

 **Disclaimer** : I own nothing related to _Battlestar Galactica_.

 **Summary** : Maybe one day, it wouldn't matter anymore that she was the President. Maybe one day, they'd be able to admit aloud that what they felt for one another was more than friendship. On that day though, he made sure her understanding was clear.

 **A/N1** : Thanks to those who reviewed my previous #BSG fics. Y'all's are awesome!

 **A/N2** : For _BostonGal_ , who wanted the conversation that came after Roslin and Adama left the boxing ring in _Unfinished Business_.

 **A/N3** : Enjoy! Leave a _review_ if you feel so inclined. They are ever _so_ appreciated. **#TodayIsLife**

~~~~~PT~~~~~

" _When you fight a man, he's not your friend. Same goes when you lead. I forgot that once. I let you get too close,_ _ **all**_ _of you. I dropped my guard. I let this crew and this family disband and we paid the price in lives. That can't happen again._ " ~ Admiral Bill Adama at _The Dance_

Doc Cottle caught up and told them he'd just meet them in the Admiral's quarters to patch him up. He was in no hurry but knew Roslin wanted to get Adama out of the public eye as quickly as she could.

Once inside his quarters, she went to the bathroom, or the _head_ as he called it, to wet a couple of face cloths and grab a towel. Making her way back out to him, she found him sitting comfortably on the couch.

"Fighting Chief Tyrol was _stupid_ ," she began, using the wet cloth to clean the blood off first. "Fighting to lose was _frakking_ _stupid_."

"I made my point." Grimacing, "Take it easy, Laura."

"You could've made your point even if you won," she countered with a final scrub.

"It's my face," he grunted.

"Your face that Chief Tyrol used as a punching bag." Grabbing the other wet cloth, she began focusing on his wounds. "With your permission and persuasion, I might add." When he looked at her, she continued, "I know you riled him up. You did from the _minute_ you called him out."

"He wasn't making his men work," he explained. "He beat me and they went to work."

"Bill, you could've won and they would've still gone back to work after that speech." Using the towel, she dried off his face by covering and patting it.

"You trying to suffocate me?" he complained.

"She's mad as hell at ya," Dr Cottle announced his presence. Clearly they were too absorbed to notice him. "I am too, for that matter. You let him beat the frak out of you."

"Thank you, Doctor," Roslin smiled at him and smirked at Adama.

"Anytime, Madame President," he smiled back at her. "You've got your hands full with her, Admiral," he laughed.

"Imagine if she _wasn't_ my friend," he grunted, beginning to feel the beating his body took.

Her only response was to pat his forearm as she down next to him. Then with a wide smile, she asked, "Would you like privacy, Admiral?"

"It's only Cottle," he replied with a grin.

The doctor was already quickly patching up his old friend. "Yeah it's only me, here to glue your face back together after that ass kicking you got." He winked at Roslin when Adama just grunted.

"Two against one, not a fair fight," he protested.

"I thought today was the special _unfair_ _fight_ day," Cottle teased grouchily.

"You both made your point," he admitted. "Just fix it so Laura can stop trying to help."

"I didn't think you minded," she stated with some confusion.

"I don't," he assured her, "unless you're smothering me."

"I was drying his face, Doctor," she explained with an innocent expression.

"I believe _her_ ," Cottle replied as he finished his work. "Well, that'll do it." He began packing up his supplies. "It should hold if you don't shower for a while, Admiral, and please make sure he eats some of his dinner, Madame President." As he was turning to leave, he thought he'd stoke the fire a bit. "Give him hell, Laura," he chuckled.

Adama shook his head. " _I've_ known you longer."

" _She's_ prettier," he laughed again. "Well, I'll see myself out. Not that you were getting up anyway," he poked his old friend.

"I figured you'd want the pretty one to walk you out," he teased with a nod at Roslin.

"It's fine," Cottle called back, "I don't want to distract her from being pissed at you." With that he left and the two friends remained sitting on the couch.

It wasn't until she didn't notice him reaching out his hand that he realized she was either lost in thought or stewing and looking for the right words. _Frakking stupid_ seemed to cover it, he thought as he watched her expression change.

"What's wrong? You really pissed at me?" He asked softly.

Having decided to push her question to the back of her mind, she shook her head. "No, I'm really not." Standing, she began pacing small circles, one hand on her back.

He tried again. "What's wrong, Laura?" This time when she denied anything being wrong, he stood up behind her but maintained his distance. "Ask me," he softly challenged.

Turning around, "There's nothing to ask. I'm fine. You're fine." She threw up her hands. "There's nothing to ask."

Her dramatic flare only served to prove his point. "Ask me," he repeated with a little more grit in his tone. "Damnit, Laura, you've been off since we got here. Ask me."

"I have not been _off_ , as you put it," she defended.

His look became sterner. "Ask me," he repeated yet again, his voice lower but grittier.

"Fine, Bill, but I don't get why -." She let that thought drop. Her wording wasn't correct. It wasn't how she wanted to broach this topic. "You made everything very clear in your speech."

" _Something_ confused you." He was wondering what he'd said that would make her react that way.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at him. "You let people get too close to you," she began then took another deep breath. "Does that include me?" She'd meant to hold his stare but looked away as she finished the question. She still managed to catch the way his expression softened as her words set in.

"No, it doesn't," he finally answered. "That was meant for my Military people not my President."

"I wasn't your _President_ on New Caprica," she reminded him. He looked down. They weren't discussing New Caprica. Hadn't since that time she'd come to see him after her return. "Did you let me get too close, Bill?" The longer he took to answer, the more she believed she was right. She _had_ gotten too close and _that's_ why they never discussed their time together down on the rock.

When her eyes misted over and she began to turn away, trying to hide feeling foolish, he grabbed onto her arm. "It doesn't include you, Laura," he finally answered in a soft tone.

Her instinct was to move his hand or tell him to remove it, but instead she just said, "As close as we got down there, Bill, we've continued to get closer up here."

"We have since you came back home," he agreed, taking his hand off her and turning away. He couldn't have that conversation, not yet, and so he hoped she'd leave it alone.

"Okay, you've answered my question," she said.

He saw right through the fake smile and extra glee in her voice. Waiting till she sat down, he chose a spot on the couch right next to her. "Laura," he began but she cut him off.

Sitting sideways, her head went to rest in her hand as her legs curled up. "You answered me," she said in a voice meant to shut him down. It had the opposite effect however.

"We got close on New Caprica. Even closer up here. I have no regrets."

"You never do though, do you?" she wondered as much as stated.

He looked away and sighed. Turning back towards her, he shifted his body to face her as well as he could. Needing to figure out how best to address her concerns, he didn't answer right away. Instead he ran his fingers up her arm, stopping only to rub his thumb along her knuckles before letting his fingers trail back down. "I don't, I _can't_ ," he quietly acknowledged, "but -."

He didn't have a chance to finish because her snort stopped him. "It's fine, I don't regret it either. And, before you remind me, I _know_ we're not going to talk about New Caprica."

"It happened, Laura." He put his hand up and caressed her cheek, letting his thumb move over her jaw line. The fingers of his other hand that once moved along her arm were now merely resting on it. "I don't regret _you_." He didn't know if it was clear to her what he meant but he hoped it was. He had no regrets about letting her in because it was _her_ and he still wanted her close to him, still wanted her to crawl under his skin the way she had when she was _just a teacher_.

"I don't regret you either," she whispered and leaned her head into his hand. She would see what he did, how he reacted to her, before she'd proceed.

She heard him exhale then move in to kiss her forehead. The hand that had been holding her own head moved over to hold his, to pull him even closer.

"You didn't get too close, Laura," he murmured. "Sometimes I wonder about not letting you get close enough," he admitted. He knew they were treading thin ice. He couldn't discuss New Caprica with her, not yet, because then she'd _know_.

"If you could do one thing right now, Bill, -," she began softly but he cut her off by saying her name in a tone just as soft. When he moved even closer to her, despite his intentions not to, she finished her thought. "What would you do?"

He knew the question. She'd asked it the night of Baltar's groundbreaking on New Caprica. He'd taken too long thinking about his answer and so she had given her own. He knew what she was looking for, what she was really asking.

With that in mind, knowing her own answer would be _vastly_ different this time, he moved towards her and ghosted his lips over hers. Even with that simple gesture, he could tell her body was reacting by the sharp inhalation of breath. Covering her lips, he lingered and felt her respond. Moving back, both hands on her head now, he licked his lips and kissed her again.

It was slow and soft. Even as she licked his bottom lip before sucking on it. Even as she slid her tongue in and his own immediately swirled around it before he sucked on it. Even as her hand behind his head pushed him closer still and her other traveled over his chest, his side, and finally rested on his back after scratching over his tanks.

It was slow and soft. Even as his hand moved into her hair, holding her tight, and his other traveled down her neck, her breast and her side before resting on her derrière and pushing her impossibly closer to him.

It remained slow and soft until she loudly moaned at the same time he groaned. There was no denying their passion still lingered, their desire as strong as ever.

The heat building up in their bodies, the need to touch and be touched, flowed directly to their most intimate parts.

"I don't regret _you_ ," he rasped as he broke away from her mouth and began licking, nipping and sucking his way down her neck. "I didn't let _you_ get too close," he managed before he covered her lips once more.

She wanted to touch him, to see how'd he stop her. Would he use his battered body as the reason or would he use her title? In the midst of another deeply passionate kiss, her hand moved over him and she enjoyed the deep groan he emitted.

Deep inside, she knew this would come to an end but she vowed to enjoy it while it lasted. He had made her ask him the one question that lingered as she listened to that speech to his people. He had answered her in a way that reminded both of them of their time together on New Caprica.

As she moved her hand along him, he was moving into it. Wanting to feel him thrust against more than her hand, she straddled him. They'd have to stop, they both knew that. Until they did though, she'd thrust her core against him, reveling in the feel of him rising up to meet her each time.

They had gotten to the point of moving without breaking their kiss. His hands covered her breasts through her blouse until he finally pulled it loose and slid them under to tweak her erect nipples through her bra.

Still moving into one another, she thought about how much he was hurting as he left the ring and wondered if she was helping or making it worse. Worried, she moved back. "Am I hurting you?" It was a breathy whisper and he wasn't sure if it was the tone alone that turned him on even more or the fact that she was worried about him. Deciding it was both, he shook his head and resumed kissing her.

"Gods, I want you, Bill," she husked, knowing he'd appreciate her putting voice to her desire while at the same time she'd more than likely make him stop.

"I want you too, Laura," he rasped, but his eyes grew clouded and she knew their time for passion had ended. She hadn't expected they would make love. Knowing they both wanted to should've been enough but it wasn't. Despite that, she climbed off and sat back down next to him. "I'm sorry," he grimaced, his body again reminding him he was an old man who'd gotten his ass kicked not that long ago.

"Don't be," she caressed his face. To bring them back to reality, she kissed his bruises then placed a lingering, albeit chaste, kiss on his lips. As her eyes misted, she whispered, "I have no regrets, Bill."

"Neither do I," he murmured before pulling her into him. If they couldn't make love because of their titles, he decided, the least they could do was continue growing closer.

Maybe one day, it wouldn't matter anymore that she was the President. Maybe one day, they'd be able to admit aloud what they felt for one another was more than friendship. Maybe one day, they'd be able to voice that it was more than just lust.

On that day though, he made sure her understanding was clear. He _didn't_ let her get too close.

[ **The End** ]

 **A/N4** : Thanks for reading!


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